Guatemalan Civil War Case Annulled

The Guatemalan Flag (Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on November 17, 2024)

A Guatemalan appeals court acquitted eight former military officials who were accused of being involved in the largest mass disappearances in Latin America during the Guatemalan Civil War on November 5, 2024. Named the “Creompaz case” after the location where 558 bodies were found, according to Open Society Foundations, this court case, along with other similar cases, gave constituents hope that Guatemala would enact transitional justice.

Guatemala’s civil war was a conflict between the Guatemalan government and left-wing guerilla groups that lasted from 1960 to 1996. Over 200,000 people died, the majority of them Mayans, according to the Commission For Historical Clarification. Specifically in the Creompaz case, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala stated that around 90 of the 558 bodies belonged to children and that most of the bodies showed evidence of torture with blindfolds, ropes, and chains found around their ankles and necks. For a long time this case was hidden, but in 2012 the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala discovered the mass graves which ultimately led to 14 indictments of military officers for charges of forced disappearances and crimes against humanity, writes Open Society Foundations. Only eight of those officers were found and brought to trial with sufficient evidence. The trial disappointed human rights groups, however, because it excluded over 80 percent of the victims from the charges in the case, according to the International Justice Monitor. Appeals requested that all victims be included in the charges but eventually caused the court to stay at a standstill for years while reviewing the appeals. Plaintiffs claimed that the delay was intentional so that courts did not have to enact justice. However, during this time, the defendants remained in jail, according to the International Justice Monitor.

The Second Court of Appeals decided to annul the Creompaz case on November 5 and grant the immediate release of all military officials involved, according to Agencia Ocote. This decision sparked major outrage. Groups such as the Center for Human Rights and Legal Action called the annulment a major threat to Guatemala’s transitional justice, according to Latin News. Human rights groups are determined to keep fighting, though, and have called upon the Constitutional Court to appeal the decision, Impunity Watch en Español writes on X.